What is Day Trading? - The Basics

What is Day Trading? - The Basics

Day trading is the practice of buying and selling financial instruments, such as stocks, stock options, currencies, and futures contracts, within the same day such that your positions are usually closed before the end of the day.

Day trading used to be the sole realm of professional investors. In fact, many day traders work for banks or investment firms. Advances in technology and the Internet, however, have allowed even amateur traders to day trading.

Day traders often borrow money to trade. This leveraging allows for a high potential rate of return and large profits. Some day traders earn millions of dollars a year. However, day trading can also be extremely risky. Without the proper skills and tools, day traders can just as easily and quickly lose money.

Although collectively called day trading, there are several different styles of day trading. Some trading styles include:

Momentum Trading

Momentum trading is a strategy in which one believes that stocks, or other financial instruments, move with a momentum or trend. Thus, stocks that have been rising are assumed to continue to rise. Likewise, stocks that are falling will continue to fall. A momentum trader thus buys stocks that are rising and short sells ones that are falling.

Contrarian Trading

Contrarian Trading sharply contrasts momentum trading. Contrarian traders believe that stocks that have been rising will reverse and fall. The contrarian trader buys stocks that have been falling and short sells stocks that have been rising.

Range Trading

Day traders who range trade look for stocks that have been consistently trading within a specific range. These stocks rise after hitting a "support" price and fall after hitting a "resistance" price. A range trader therefore buys stocks that are near the support price and short-sells stocks that are near the resistance price.